demon hunters, death knights, and druids, oh my!

Here it is, the long-overdue third installment in the continuing story of Serreina Nightfury. Enjoy!

—-

Serreina stood at the edge of the dock with her runeblade in hand, gazing out across the sea. Her hood was pulled back, and her limp hair fluttered lightly in the breeze, but she barely noticed; her thoughts were back in Shattrath, her mind focused on what had occurred there.

She hadn’t been particularly smart, confronting them there. Trying to take them on at the same time hadn’t been all that wise either – in fact, that had been a patently terrible idea. She’d taken on far larger numbers and survived, of course, but she had never faced even one demon hunter, let alone two. She had underestimated the power Shizukera and Shatterbound wielded, and that lapse had nearly gotten her killed.

Decapitated, to be exact …

The death knight rubbed her throat, grimacing. That had been another mistake – she had watched him as he harnessed his power, growing larger and stronger and more powerful, and yet she had foolishly allowed him to get close enough to touch her. He had a hell of a grip, too; he had simply caught her chest armor in one hand and her neck in the other and pulled, while she had boiled his blood and afflicted him with diseases. If Shizukera and Kharsus hadn’t interfered, Serreina knew that both she and Shatterbound would be dead. As it was, she had wounded both of them, but she had also lost her voice. She fervently hoped this was temporary, because now when Kharsus spoke she had no choice but to listen. That was annoying and inconvenient, partially because the former Scarlet Crusader was an arse, but mainly because he said many things that caused her resolve to waver.

The thought caused her lips to curl back in a sneer. Oh yes, he said many things. That she was insane; that she couldn’t be trusted; that she was utterly dependent on her runeblade, to the point that it controlled her, rather than the other way around.

Untrue …

She tightened her grip on Sorrowblade, listening as the runeblade whispered to her. After several long moments she turned back toward Stormwind and whistled sharply. Her deathcharger appeared at once, seeming to materialize from darkness and shadow. She smiled.

I will defeat them still, she promised Sorrowblade silently. I was uninformed and unprepared before. Now I know better. Now I know how to fight them

And I will make sure she is alone.

Her smile widened as she spurred her deathcharger on, racing back toward the city as quickly as the undead beast could carry her. No, she wouldn’t be distracted. She wouldn’t be dissuaded.

This short story, written from Shizukera’s perspective, is part 2 in the RP series “From Beyond, She Comes.” Enjoy!

~*~

Guess what, journal ~

Today I met my mother, who’s been dead for years. She’s a death knight. It was weird.

Shizukera Nightfury read over what she had just written and couldn’t help but laugh. Weird? Weird didn’t even begin to describe that experience. Horrifying beyond imagining came a little closer.

The truth was, she had always wished there was a way to put her family together again. Of course, she knew that could never happen – she had seen her parents die; she’d lost her mind for a time because of it – but what orphaned child doesn’t wish she could have her parents back again?

Well, she’d gotten her wish. Half of it, at least.

Shizu shuddered. She could see her mother clearly in her mind’s eye: pale skin stretched across hollow cheekbones, the icy blue glow of necromantic magic shining through her sunken eyes, the cold smile as she made both her presence and her purpose known. There was nothing left of the gentle priestess who had been Shizu’s mother. All that remained was this dark, cruel, battle-hardened champion of the Scourge.

Former champion of the Scourge, Shizu silently corrected herself. If Serreina was still under the Lich King’s control, she never would’ve made it out of the king’s throne room alive. No, her mother was acting on her own will. She truly wanted her daughter dead, and her son … and Taldarion.

That thought filled Shizu with rage. She had learned long ago not to expect life to be fair, but this? To have her mother returned to her as a death knight, deranged and merciless and set on killing her and two of the people she cared about more than anything or anyone else in this world – this after all that Shizu had already been through – wasn’t that a little too much? She had never asked for much out of life, yet life insisted on piling shoveltusk droppings on her head.

The rage faded as quickly as it had formed, and Shizu sighed heavily. Even now, having seen what Serreina Nightfury had become, she couldn’t let go of her desire to have her mother back. Was there anything left of her? Was there enough of her to save? Maybe not. It didn’t look like it.

But that wasn’t going to stop her from trying.

With another heavy sigh, Shizu laid her journal aside, scooted closer to her mate, and slipped into an uneasy, dream-riddled sleep.

I needed a good inaugural post, so I figured, what better way to get things rolling than with an RP snippet? The fact that this piece represents the end of two and a half years of writer’s block makes it especially exciting to me. *flails happily*

Profiles of involved characters to come. Enjoy the story!

~*~

The death knight walked through the streets of Stormwind, her saronite greaves clanging sharply on the cobblestones. The city was crowded today, but she moved easily through the masses; even after the king’s proclamation, few of the city’s denizens truly trusted her kind and fewer still wished to touch her.

That was fine by her. She did not wish to touch them either.

She made her way to the trade district and slipped into the shadows between the buildings. Her hair had long since faded from its natural blue to a pale white, and her eyes burned with the icy blue glow of the necromantic magics that bound her to this unlife – a glow that was now partially obscured by the hood she had carefully arranged over her head. It wasn’t likely that the one she sought would recognize her. But her daughter had watched her die and still believed her to be dead, and the bustling trade district was the last place she would choose for a reunion with one of her children …

As she had expected, her daughter appeared within minutes, winding her way through the crowds near the auction house. Her hair was longer, less shaggy, a rich shade of purple instead of its natural midnight blue. She had grown – oh, she had grown so much! – and the death knight saw the gleam of an engagement ring around her finger. For an instant, the cold, hard shell around her soul cracked, and the former priestess smiled.

Shizukera, she thought. My child.

Then Shizukera turned around, and the smile froze on the death knight’s face. Her daughter was wearing a blindfold, the glow of her cursed sight clearly visible through the fabric, a telltale sign of the path she had chosen.

The path of the demon hunter.

A flood of emotions, forgotten and unfelt for so long, poured through the death knight’s consciousness. The stupid, foolish child! Had she forgotten what the Burning Legion had done to her world, to her people, to her father and her brother – and to her? They were the ones who had killed her; they were the reason she was locked in this damned unlife; if they hadn’t killed her, she couldn’t have been raised, pressed into the Lich King’s service, forced to torture and maim and kill hundreds – not just the Scarlet zealots, but countless innocents as well …

And now, her daughter, her own daughter, had made herself into one of them. She had willingly joined her soul to one of theirs. She might not look like one – not yet, at least – but in her soul, she was a demon.

The torrent of emotions froze, coalescing into icy resolve. Her daughter had betrayed her and she would pay for her betrayal.

About Me

Hi! I’m Shizu, and this is my World of Warcraft blog. *waves*

My WoW history in a nutshell: I started playing on Silver Hand in November 2006, RP’d a lot, transferred to Scarlet Crusade with some friends, leveled to 70, got restless, raided all BC content up to and including Kil’jaeden, leveled to 80, raided Wrath up through Sarth25-3D, got cranky at Northrend and the nerfs to my spec and my inability to adjust to Northrend and the nerfs to my spec, and transferred to Earthen Ring to join the lovely folks of the Netherbane. I still do some light raiding with the Netherbane, but my focus now is on RP and alt leveling, so most of my posts will have to do with RP and alt leveling.